Re:Shield
by Reapergenesis32
Summary: Naofumi is always scolding the other 3 heroes that this isn't a game. Let's see what happens when Naofumi can continue a save upon his death.
1. Chapter 1

RE: Shield Chapter 1

*Okay, so I got this plot bunny from a comment chain from BlueWaterBlueSky in the story Sweet Dreams by SeliaHearts (which is a good story on Ao3). Basically, Naofumi has Subaru from RE: Zero's ability 'Return by Death' which allows him to return to 'save points' upon death. I have watched and read the anime and manga for RotSH, but I haven't watched RE: Zero, so any references to it are purely coincidental. *

Disclaimer: I don't own Rising of the Shield Hero or RE: Zero. They belong to Aneko Yusagi and Tappei Nagatsuki respectively.

* * *

_Deep inside the forests near Melromarc_

**Drip…Drip…**A single drop of blood slowly made its way through a lock of soft, caramel hair leaving it dyed a dark red.

_**No**_**…**Nearby was hand, tiny but calloused, lying limp half closed around the hilt of a broken knife. -_It looked like a sword in her hands, she is-was so young._ -

**Crack…Crunch…**It was sitting there out of the corner of his eye, mocking him. If he just reached out, he could hold it, clasp it like he was going to protect the owner of the little hand with everything he's got. _Like I should've done in the first place._

**Crack…Snap…**_I'm so weak…if I wasn't, if I wasn't so-! Then-!_

**Crack, POP!**

Naofumi forced his heavy eyes up, breathing heavily, dragging them away from the barbs that had him pinned to the tree. He could feel his life fading from his body with every ragged breath he took; hell, he could see it the form of bright red seeping around the smooth surface of the one large spike firmly impaled through his stomach, dyeing the off-white red and turning his shirt dark. **Crunch…**Still the sight of the personal color job was better than looking at his status screen. It was blinking_-the same color as!_ -red right in front of him, showing his health bar steadily going down. Soon it will hit zero; as he focused on it, it almost seemed to torment him, like that traitorous bitch had since he came to this hellhole, as it inched down by millimeter by painful millimeter. He focused on his status, -he couldn't bare looking at the name under his, he knows what he'll find but he doesn't want to see it-.

**Munch…**_If I look then it'll just confirm what I already know._

Beyond the transparent screen, Naofumi could see the huge, hulking shape. It would've reminded Naofumi of a bear if it wasn't so monstrous. It was easily 5 meters tall, its fur black, stained dark from the blood of its prey and matted from the dried liquid. It's razor sharp teeth and claws glinted from the patches of the afternoon sunlight that managed to break through the foliage. And to add to the already deadly ensemble, as if it wasn't deadly enough, on its back was a bed of spines that resembled a porcupine's quill's, the same quill's that currently rested in the Shield Hero's body.

Right now, it was crouched over, a couple of feet away from the young man, ignoring him. Oh, how he wished it was crouched over in pain.

**Chomp…**It would've been fine. **Crunch…**He could leave this world behind satisfied if he had gave the monster something to remember him by**…Crack…**Hell maybe if that happened, he would've racked up enough Karma and be dropped into a better fantasy then this cruel world.

**Drip…**But he's not that lucky.

Hidden under the bear's impressive girth was a tiny figure, unmoving as the Porcubear tore into her body like it hadn't eaten in weeks. Though if you didn't know it was her, you wouldn't even think that the corpse was once a girl, let alone a living breathing person, it was so badly mauled.

_Raphtalia…I'm so sorry._

They, or rather Naofumi decided that since Raphtalia had gained a few levels it would be alright to go deeper into the forest to gain some more precious Exp. What they didn't know was that this part of the forest was near the territory of a lv. 50 monster that prowled around. It was just bad luck that the bear caught the scent of the Rabbit blood they had killed earlier and found them instead.

They had tried to run but the Porcubear easily caught up to them. With little choice left, Naofumi tried to buy Raphtalia time to escape, but even with the Shield Hero's defense boost, the Porcubear easily smashed though his guard and the force of the blow sent him into a nearby tree. To add insult to injury, the bear launched its quills towards the young man, pinning him to the tree. The bear, satisfied that its larger prey was firmly in place, had lumbered over to the trapped man.

Raphtalia, after a moment of hesitation, launched herself at the Porcubear in a desperate attempt to save her master. However, it was in vain.

The knife shattered into pieces when she tried to drive it into the bear's skin. Even though it didn't even nick the Porcubear's thick hind, it was enough to cause the monster to turn its attention to the trembling Takuni girl.

Even though Naofumi screamed for her to run, even though she turned to run away, a single swipe of its paw was enough to kill the young girl. Though now it seemed like it was a mercy that she died almost painlessly compared to her master who was literally waiting for his life to runout. He watched with dead eyes as the Porcubear tore into his slave as he cursed at his own foolishness.

_Goddamn it! GODDAMN IT! Why?! Why did this have to happen!?_ Naofumi screamed mentally; at who he didn't know, himself, his luck, whatever entity that brought him here or even at the Porcubear. _Why was the equivalent of a mid-game boss so close to the castle!? Damn it! They must've known, that's why they let me out so close to here! I bet they wanted me to meet my end to this monster!_ The searing heat of his anger gave him a surge of energy and he reached, not for the barbs pinning him in place, but for the undamaged hand of his slave not even a foot away from him.

When the Porcubear swiped at Raphtalia, a stray claw was sharp enough to slice the child's hand off and send it next to the young man. Uncaring of the barbs widening his wounds causing more blood to escape his battered body, he grabbed the hand and cradled it gently against his chest.

**Naofumi Iwatani Lv. 5 Shield Hero**

**HP 10/243**

**WARNING! DEATH IMMINETE!**

He saw the words flash across the screen and almost smiled_. In this situation, the quicker the death the better, it's better than waiting for this overgrown, rejected Wuzzle to eat me alive. _

**Naofumi Iwatani Lv.5 Shield Hero**

**HP 8/243**

**WARNING! DEATH IMMINETE!**

_This world…it looked so beautiful when I was first summoned here_. He thought dimly as the energy brought by his anger left him and he rested his head against the bark of his tree. _But this world, its reality…_

**7/243**

_Its not a game, this is real. _

**6/243**

_I wanted to live. I wanted to fight._

**5/243**

_But in the end._

**4/243**

_I was useless. I couldn't protect Raphtalia. I couldn't even protect myself._ He clenched the hand tightly, as though he was a child seeking comfort from an adult rather than the opposite. _I guess Motoyasu was right, the Shield is a worthless weapon that is doomed to failure._

**3/243**

_I should've known, this world was stacked against me from the start. Why should now be any different? My only regret…_

**2/243**

_Was that I couldn't protect Raphtalia._

**1/243**

_Maybe in the next life…maybe I'll be transported to another, better world. Maybe not as a hero, but as a peasant this time._

**0/243**

_I'm sorry…_

Everything went black.

* * *

Naofumi woke up with a choked off scream as he sat up, violently coughing. He had just enough time to dimly realize he was in the same inn he and Raphtalia stayed at last night? Yesterday? Before his stomach revolted and sent him running for the nearby bathroom.

When his stomach was finally empty, he rested against the wall, drained. _What the hell was that? A nightmare? No, a premonition?_ _It felt so real…_His trembling hand rubbed his stomach where the larger barb was moments(?) before. When he prodded it, he could almost feel the phantom pain of his life leaking out.

"Master?"

Naofumi swung his head towards the doorway to stare at where the quiet voice originated from. There in the dim light of dawn, was Raphtalia, whole and most importantly alive. She sleepily rubbed her eyes as she stared at her master with both confusion and concern.

Naofumi, for his part, almost ran over to hug her or to check to see if she was real and not a hallucination. However, he firmly stamped down the impulse. _It was just a dream, nothing happened._ "It's nothing." He said, turning away from the girl and wiping his mouth of bile. "Just a nightmare. Go back to sleep."

The tanuki hesitated -like before she was! - then nodded. "Goodnight, master."

"Goodnight. And…sorry…for-waking you up."

The girl glanced over, still worried but smiled at her master before leaving to wait outside their room for the hero.

Naofumi stared out the window for a moment, still feeling the barbs, before he followed the girl to their room.


	2. Chapter 2

RE: Shield Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Rising of the Shield Hero or RE: Zero. They belong to Aneko Yusagi and Tappei Nagatsuki respectively.**

* * *

_Somewhere near Castletown._

Naofumi was annoyed.

Granted this wasn't anything new since his third day in Melromarc, but today was just getting on his nerves. Since his episode in the morning, everywhere he looked it reminded him of the nightmare he had last night. And when he said 'reminded,' meant it looked like he was watching the dream replay right in front of him!

From having breakfast in the inn, the nearby conversations he listened to for tips or rumors, selling the medicines to the general store, to even encountering the same number of enemies, to even the same _freaking rabbit_!

At first, he thought he was just seeing things, Castletown after all was a medieval town, it makes sense that everyone a routine that they followed. He once read somewhere that dreams reflect what you see but don't really think of. Maybe because his subconscious pointed it out and now that he's aware of it, he can't exactly _unsee_ it.

What was unusual was the conversations. They were exactly the same, word for word. He knew that there were only so many ways to say 'can I get 5 turnips' or 'fresh fruit here' or even 'there's the shield hero, don't go near.' but no one should say the same thing twice.

"Get your fish here!" _Now that was understandable, same shit as usual for sale._

"What 5 coppers for 20 eggs!?" _Pushing it a bit. While it is a good price, it's not efficient to have the same bargains every day for the same quantity, but who knows, the merchant might have a lot of chickens._

"The Shield Hero, what's that rapist doing?"_ Come on, get creative, why don't you? Don't reuse the same insults, add some variety to your miserable lives._

"Did you hear that Dan cheated on Mika?" This however, caught his attention, as it was a rather juicy piece of gossip that was prominently featured in his vision. Not only was it gossip and no one really repeats what they've already told unless they're going senile; but because right after, said cheater is chased down the street by his jilted wife. And to add insult to injury, he then does a rather spectacular faceplant into the breasts of a nearby woman.

And speak of the devil, the scumbag Dan came running down the street with Mika hot on his heels screaming and throwing things at her husband's head. Sure enough, he tripped over a fallen apple and slipped and fell face first into another woman's chest; the exact same woman from the dream, down to the most minute detail of her dull hair and plain face.

He actually stopped to stare with the rest of the crowd at that, because that was wasn't just coincidental; it was downright unnerving at how accurate it was. He eventually dragged Raphtalia away from crowd as the guy was being beaten by the two women as he felt a sense of deep foreboding.

The foreboding only increased when they stopped by the general store.

"Back again." The owner commented when he entered.

"Yeah." Naofumi grunted as he pulled out the medicines. The man took a bottle from the batch and examined it. He popped the quirk off and took a whiff. He barely flinched at the pungent smell or when he took a small taste of the bitter medicine.

"The quality is getting better. Hard to believe you've only been in crafting medicine for less than a week." He said, unaware he was repeating himself. Naofumi grunted in response.

"I'd say it's worth about 6 silvers."

"9."

"Hmph, trying to rob me? 7."

"You have a steady supply of medicine coming in that you sell for a silver a piece; you could afford it with the upcoming wave. 8."

"Deal." Naofumi took the pouch, fighting off his feeling of déjà vu that didn't seem to leave him alone. When he walked out, he quickly tilted his head out of the way of a stray ball that bounced off the door frame.

"Ah! I'm sorry Master!" Raphtalia cried as her ball rolled past her. Naofumi said nothing, just before he walked out, he remembered in his nightmare that Raphtalia had accidently hit him in the face with her ball. When he remembered that tidbit, he just instinctively dodged the rubber projectile. "Master?" she asked nervously, thinking she'd upset her nice master. She flinched slightly when he reached out to her, but relaxed when he just patted her head.

"It didn't hit me. Besides, a ball isn't going to hurt me." He said distractedly as handed her the toy and he began walking towards the gates, causing the girl to run after him. When she was next to him, he reached out and took her hand into hers, drawing a questioning look from her. He didn't say anything further, but until they encountered a monster in the field, Naofumi held onto Raphtalia's hand.

* * *

In the fields near the town, the lingering sense of déjà vu turned into alarm. While the types and amount of monster's didn't really bother him, as they were still in the beginning area so to speak. The pickings were slim, after all and they had a habit of breeding like rabbits to keep the hunting ground for materials fertile. It was after they were done killing the mobs, Naofumi had went to absorb a different variety of monster they'd encountered when he realized, _**he'd already unlocked that shield upgrade.**_

Naofumi had paused when his Shield informed him of that fact and he froze when decided to look deeper into his skill tree and saw that he already had the Rabbit shields. Which was impossible since so far, he and Raphtalia only killed the different variations of Mushs and Balloons.

When he checked his status that morning and saw that he was still Lv. 4, he thought the nightmare was just that, a nightmare. Probably born of exhaustion and frustration of his current situation. But between the conversations, the events, and the shields, he knew something was going on.

_What the actual fuck?_ He didn't have more time to think of it, because at that moment the bushes near them started rustling and the Pill Rabbit jumped out. A Very Familiar Looking Pill Rabbit. The beast wasted no time in leaping towards a startled Raphtalia.

"Watch out!" He leaped up and blocked the monster with his non-shield arm. While not painful or breaking the skin thanks to his boost; it's bite was like a vice and he could feel his arm start to go numb the lack of blood flow. Not to mention it was squirmy and it was hard to keep it still.

"Now, Raphtalia! Stab it!" He yelled. The tanuki hesitated, backing away in fear. "What's wrong? Hurry!"

"B-but it'll bleed if I do…" She stammered in fear. "I'm scared of blood!"

_That's right…In the nightmare before we saw that monster._ He had given her an order which she couldn't do due to her phobia, causing her slave brand to punish her in the process. _Damn it…I can't do it that way again. While I do need her to get over her fear, but forcing her through pain would just cause later resentment. Which in the coming Waves would just cause more, potentially fatal problems. But maybe I could still give her the same speech and persuade her. Well it's worth a shot._

"Listen well, if you can't fight, then I won't be able to look after you anymore." He said, parroting the words he had said in the vision as he held the Rabbit still. "A Wave that threatens this world's existence is coming soon. But defense is all I'm good for, I need someone to be my sword for me. If you can't do it, I'll just get someone else."

The girl's eyes widen in horror. At the thought of fighting in the same Waves that led to her losing her home or at being abandoned, he didn't know. "So, you're going to fight the Wave's?" She asked, still shaking.

"That's my job."

Raphtalia stared at him then at the Rabbit, before tightening her grip on her blade. "Got it." Naofumi gave a small grin before yanking the monster off his arm and spinning around to hold the beast out towards the tanuki. The girl rushed forward and plunged her blade into the Rabbit's heart, spraying the two of them with its blood, killing it.

As the rabbit's body twitched, its life draining from it Raphtalia stood panting in both exertion and shock. He could see that the two of them had regained their previous levels as her wide eyes met Naofumi's. "Master…I'll fight for you. But, please, don't throw me away…" She begged, still splattered with blood. As he looked at the blood that had gotten in her hair, he had a brief flashback to the Porcubear as it hunched over her body.

He shook his head, trying to shake off the image and walked over to the girl and gently pushed her towards the river and away from the forest. "I won't, if I don't have to. Come on, we need to wash the blood off or we'll attract something bigger."

She nodded vigorously, she also wanted to get it off as it was already drying and making her feel dirty as it dried, leaving itchy flakes on her skin. They were silent the whole time they cleaned themselves off and they decided it would be best to turn in for the day. Though Raphtalia thought it was strange that they went back through the fields rather than the way they came.

* * *

They sold off the remains that Naofumi didn't absorb before they swung by the Blacksmith. Erhard's greeted them with a cheery grin as the Shield Hero and his slave came in.

"Hey there, Shield boy." Naofumi didn't greet him, but threw a pouch of coins onto the counter.

"Sell us a new a weapon for this much."

Erhard's grin widens and he leaned over to smile at Raphtalia, who returned it with a shy one. "Time to get the little miss a sword, then. One on the short side would be a good start." He walked over to a crate and began rummaging around, before pulling one out. "It's a short one made of iron." He handed it to the girl, who experimentally swung it. **It looked like a sword in her hands.**

Naofumi shoved the thought away and turned to the blacksmith, all business, "Old man, is there a town or a village nearby that we can travel to with our equipment?"

"Well, with your stuff, it'd have to be here." He said pointing at the map over a settlement called Lute Village. "There might be merchants willing to buy from you and I heard that there's a mine near the village with valuable ores."

"Lute Village…that's a few miles from here."

"Yep, though I would recommend you two waiting till tomorrow and set out around dawn. Less dangerous that way."

"Dangerous? Why?" They had only encountered lower leveled monsters so far; the dream didn't count.

Erhard frowned, pointing at the forests near town. "The quickest route is through the forest. However, it's recently become extremely dangerous. A monster from the first Wave has made its home in the deeper part of the forest." He warned. **A hulking shape, in a forest, **his vision taunted."From what I've heard, it's a huge monster with razor sharp teeth and hind that not even steel weapons could pierce. It is said that it could even kill an experienced adventurer with one hit."

"…Really?" Naofumi asked, with a sinking feeling deep in his gut.

"Yeah, it also has a nasty habit wandering out near the trails, especially at night. Many people have recently have gone missing. So, you two better be careful."

"…Thanks for the warning." The dark feeling never leaving him, even as the two made their way towards the inn.

* * *

_Mine Shaft, Lute Village_

Naofumi swung down the rented pickaxe into a cluster of crystals. They had managed to reach Lute Village by noon, with no trouble to speak of. By asking around they had learned that a good way to earn money quick was in the ores here. However, much like the other day, they had been warned that monsters from the first Wave had also made their home here.

Despite his initial misgivings, he had decided that they will take a chance; by reasoning that if anything happened, they'd run. **Like they'd tried too-.**

He swung down harder than he meant to, breaking off a few crystals as he gritted his teeth in annoyance. _Oh god damn it! Stop thinking about it!_ He scolded himself as he crouched down to pick up a few crystals to absorb a piece of light metal. He sighed as he stood up, working the kinks out of his back. _It was just a nightmare that was brought on by stress and maybe I had overheard someone gossiping about the monster in the forest. My subconscious_ _must've decided to create that scenario with input from my stress just to torment me. It. Was. A. Dream._ _Still, it was pretty creepy how everything went about like how my nightmare went._ _And how exactly did I get the Rabbit shields before we found any Pill Rabbits?_

"NOOO!"

"**GRRRAH!"**

Hearing the ear-piercing roar and shriek, Naofumi whirled around just in time to see a massive canine head latched its jaws around Raphtalia's neck. The monstrous jaws easily snapped through the metal collar as the other howled in triumph. The monster was a two headed dog that was at least 6 feet tall and resembled a rottweiler with glowing red eyes and elongated necks, similar to _rokurokubi_. Naofumi stood frozen in both shock and horror as Raphtalia's face was frozen in a mixture of pure terror and despair. He could only stare as her eyes turned dull and unseeing as life escaped her body.

"No, no, no, no, no, NO NOT AGAIN!" He screamed helplessly in horror as the dog released its grip on the tanuki's neck and growled menacingly. Raphtalia crumbled silently to the ground and laid there, unmoving with blood pooling around her form. He stood transfixed before he was overcome with pure, white, hot fury. With an incoherent roar of rage, he rushed at the two-headed mutt, and punched the head closest to him with all the strength he could muster.

When it connected, a loud CLANG echoed throughout the cavern and sent the mutt stumbling back with a startled yelp. While it was satisfying to see it stagger about; his attack was sadly ineffective as the son of a bitch's health bar only went down a half of inch. The dog quickly recovered and snarled, bloody spittle spraying everywhere. The dog charged at the young man, who quickly raised his shield.

However, the level difference was too much and it broke through his defense. A set of gleaming fangs clamped around his arm and into the meat of his shoulder. Naofumi screamed in pain and struggled to get free, but the dogs jaws just tightened in response, growling.

"DAMN IT! **AIR STRIKE SHIELD!"**

A translucent green shield appeared from thin air and rammed itself into the dog, causing them to release the young man. He had a minute to catch his breath before the dog lunged at him again, causing him to back up. Unfortunately, his foot met air. _Shit._ Was all he had time to think before the dog collided with him and sent them both tumbling down.

There was a brief feeling of weightlessness before he landed hard on his back and his head cracked against a large outcropping of rock, leaving him daze and most likely concussed. Furthermore, his body broke the fall of the canine, knocking the air out of him. _Are you kidding me?_ He thought dazed, _there was a body of water not a few feet away and I had to land on the large boulder? _He glared, the back of his head becoming damp from the blood. The dog stumbled to its feet, its long nail digging into the flesh of his stomach, with what looked like a twin pair of smug doggy grins complete with a bloodied muzzles.

The dog wasted no time and the beast straddled his torso and began ripping into him. Tearing apart his armor, shredding his shirt, and finally ripping into his chest. He could only fix his eyes onto the crystal studded ceiling as the dogs began digging in. He didn't know whether or not it was shock or what, but he wondered why he was feeling any serious pain? Oh, he could feel it, but it felt almost, muted. He could only think the reason why was his defense boost that dulled his pain. _I appreciate the thought, but it's kinda pointless in this situation. _He thought, closing his eyes as he felt his blood pooling under his back and what sounded like wet cardboard being torn apart.

**HP 5/295**

**WARNING! DEATH IMMINETE!**

The painfully familiar looking screen started blinking right before his eyes. _Huh, this is some serious déjà vu. _He thought indifferently, ignoring the disgusting sounds the monster made as it started chewing on something. _I guess that nightmare really was a premonition, just under different circumstances. _

**HP 3/295**

_Damn it, I failed even here…_He thought looking past the screen and dog towards the cliff that they fell from. _I failed her again._

**HP 1/295**

_I hate this. It seems no matter what I do, I'm always reminded that everything I do, no matter how much I try, I'm doomed to fail._

**HP 0/295**

_**Goddammit.**_

Everything went black.

* * *

Naofumi blinked, once, twice.

He was standing back on top of the cliff, holding the pickax and staring down at the crystals again. The untouched crystals. He straightens up and looked around, there, sitting on a flat cropping of rock was Raphtalia. Alive and uninjured.

_WHAT THE HELL!?_ Was the first thing he thought. He rubbed the back of his head, searching for blood and poking his chest and found nothing. Though he felt the phantom pain of a maybe concussion and being made into a chew toy; it was as if nothing had happened. _Was that some sort of morbid daydream or maybe…_He didn't have time to think about it any longer as he heard a shuffling noise behind him and he saw Raphtalia's face contort in terror.

He didn't hesitate. He broke out into a sprint and grabbed his party member and ran, just as the two-headed dog roared in anger and gave chase. Knowing that they were too far from the exit, he took a leap of faith and jumped towards the body of water he had missed earlier. While they were falling, Naofumi spotted the ledge he won't have noticed if he wasn't looking for it and used his Rope Shield to lasso onto it. They hung there, suspended as the dog let out a howl of frustration.

Raphtalia was trembling in his arms. "D-d-dog monster…killed mom, dad, everyone…" she sobbed. _I see,_ Naofumi thought grimly, _that's why she froze up._ Using the rope as a line, he clambered onto the familiar looking ledge to set her down. _Okay, there's no doubt about it_. He thought furiously, something is going on here. _At first, I put everything down as a nightmare, but I'm beginning to think I know or at least suspect what's going on._

They weren't permitted time to rest, as the dog had followed them down using a series of cliffs to confront its next meal. "Is that the same dog that killed your parents?" He asked he stood in front of her, with his shield raised.

"No."

"Listen Raphtalia, take that thing out here and now." He ordered, not taking his eyes off the monster. "If you could kill that thing and make me stronger, we can fend off the Waves of Catastrophe and prevent that tragedy from reoccurring." She looked at him in shock. "We can prevent other kids from going through what you did." **A brief flash of a small hand crossed his mind.**

The demon dog was done waiting and rushed towards the two, causing Raphtalia to scream in terror. Naofumi met one of the heads and jammed his shield into its maw. However, it left him wide open for the other head, it wasted no time in burying its teeth into his shoulder. The same one where it bit him in the vision. Raphtalia gasped in horror as blood poured out.

Naofumi gritted his teeth and yelled, "Now, Raphtalia, stab it!"

The tanuki started to tear up and shook her head in terror as both her phobias acted up. "No."

Naofumi's glare deepened at the beast as he yelled, "If I die it will kill you!" **A tiny body, mauled beyond recognition, the dogs jaw around her tiny neck**. "Do it now! Hurry!"

"Please no." Raphtalia pleaded as tears started spilling down her cheeks and backs away as if to run. He could see purplish sparks started to emanate from her chest. _The slave brand…_he thought._ It must be interpreting her resistance as a disobeyed order. Shit at this rate, it's going to end up like the vision, only in a different order. Guess there's no other choice._

"Forget it. If you can't fight, then get out here." He yelled as the dog's jaw tightened, the pain so intense, it nearly drove him to his knee. He had expected the girl to run, to take this opportunity to escape her master and her fear and into freedom; instead she was rooted in the spot, staring at him anxiously.

"But what about you?"

"I'll buy time for you to escape!" _At least let his death be worth it._

"What! That'd be just like then!" _Then? Does she remember? If she did, then why didn't she immediately run when we were back on top of the ledge? No, wait, she must mean when her village was attacked._

"That's the plan, idiot! Just hurry up and go!" He yelled, back as the other head attempted to join its twin. It attempted to bite through the shield, gnashing its teeth and leaving deep grooves on the metal. He wrinkled his nose at the mix of rancid dog breath and rotting flesh as they tighten their grip on both his body and weapon. He could faintly hear the tanuki girl muttering to herself and bared his teeth in a snarl_. Damn it, why isn't she running!? I can't hold this thing off forever! Runaway already! You dumb idiot!_

Just like before, his status screen appeared, blinking before his eyes, informing him that he's going to die sometime in the next two minutes. _I'm starting to really hate this screen…_He thought angrily as large amounts of blood gushed from his wounds, further frenzying the mutts with the scent.

Just as he gave up hope that Raphtalia would realize she's in danger and act accordingly, he heard her voice raised in a frantic scream. "DON'T DIE!" She took a running leap and drove her sword into the head closest to her, landing a critical hit and leaving her target with a large gash. The dog let out a pained roar and released the man, however, it wasn't down for the count just yet, and swung one of its head at the girl, sending her to a nearby wall.

Enraged, the dog ignored Naofumi in favor of turning its hate-filled gaze towards the girl, with an incoherent roar, it lunged for the girl.

"Oh no you don't! **AIR STRIKE SHIELD**!" The green shield appeared instantly in front of the girl, causing the demon dog to smash both its heads against the apparition.

"Raphtalia!" He yelled, the girl didn't need to be told twice, she had already snatched her blade back up and rushed towards the dazed dog; her fear of both blood and the animal forgotten. With zero hesitation, she plunged her blade into the center of the monster's chest, taking out its heart and finally killing the monster. With a dying wail, the monster collapsed, its body doing a final twitch, before going still as Raphtalia knelt nearby, panting and covered with its blood.

The moment it stopped twitching, Naofumi let out a sigh of relief and pain as the adrenaline wore off and his body informed him that he was in a lot of pain and maybe he should do something about it. His HP was still dangerously low, but it was no longer blinking in front of him, warning him of his impending demise. He looked at Raphtalia with quirked lips as both of them got a healthy chunk of EXP from the monster. "Good job."

The tanuki stared at him, taking in his grievous wounds, his exhausted but proud expression and renewed her tears. She dropped her blade and rushed over to hug him tightly, as if never to let go. "Naofumi-sama!"

He winced in pain as she accidently reopened his wounds, he lightly wrapped his arms around her. "Hey, even with the shields power, it still hurts." He chided as the girl tightened her grip, ignoring the renew blood flow from his wounds. It was as though she was afraid that he'd disappear if she loosened her grip an inch.

"Don't ever die! Please don't leave me alone! Naofumi-sama!" She begged, tears soaking his cloak. He hesitated for a moment before gently petting her. _I think it's too late to ask that of me. If what I'm thinking is true, then I've already broken my promises to both you and me._

"You attack and I'll defend." He finally said after holding each other for a while. Like I said earlier, we'll make each other stronger. I won't allow anything to harm you, while you destroy any enemies in our way. That way, neither of us will die." _This time._

Raphtalia nodded, burying her head against his chest.

_Right, this is the only way, in order for me to protect her, I need to grow stronger. I don't know whether or not if this world is truly a game or not, but I refuse to allow anything to happen to her._ Though he won't admit it, he knew he won't be able to full fill his promise but.

He'll sure as hell will try.


	3. Chapter 3

RE: Shield 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Rising of the Shield Hero or RE: Zero. They belong to Aneko Yusagi and Tappei Nagatsuki respectively.**

**A/N: God, this chapter was stubborn. I had to rewrite it a few times but it feels a bit chunky to me. Honestly, my muse was acting like an over-caffeinated squirrel. It would zoom to other pieces I have, give it all its attention, get distracted, die, then miraculously resurrect to restart the entire cycle.**

* * *

_Erhard's shop_

Wood, it was such a simple, but versatile material. It could be used to make simple objects, like toys or tables to more complexed, like a house. Almost similar to a human mind, your imagination is your only limit on how to use it.

The same is true when its damaged. No matter what you do the scar will remain, deeply intrenched in the material, whether it was as small as a nick or as deep as a sword slash embedded deep in the wood. Even if you cover it up with varnish or put a potted plant over it, it will still be there in both the wood's and your memory. Because you know it's there.

So, if someone else looks at the wood and sees nothing, did it really happen?

_Or, maybe, I'm just looking too deep into slashes on a wooden counter, for crying out loud,_ Naofumi groused from his place at Erhard's counter. A week since the incident in the mines, the duo had returned to Castletown to upgrade their equipment after an unfortunate…event on their way back

They were at the halfway point between the towns when they decided to get in some grinding on the way. They were doing pretty good when a porcupine monster decided Naofumi was an easier target compared to his child companion. Normally, that wasn't much of a problem as Naofumi and Raphtalia's teamwork had improved by leaps and bounds since the mine. Naofumi lures or herds the monsters into a group around him, with a little help from his skills. And Raphtalia rushes in to kill them, netting a nice bonus EXP from multi-kills as he watches her back.

However, seeing the admittedly small creature running at full sprint towards him with the same quills and eyes as…well, he froze. He's ashamed to admit it, but that's what happened. That brief moment of hesitation cost him. With a powerful headbutt, Naofumi was knocked off balanced and had a nice new scar on his shoulder, curtesy of an extremely long barb. Luckily, he was the one who got injured instead of Raphtalia this time. Despite her massive gains in levels, he knew one lucky hit could undo all of their progress.

After she took down the little bastard, she then proceeded to openly and loudly scold him for not watching his own back or his surroundings. He couldn't quite fight off the smirk that made itself at home at the thought of her face that puffed up as she nagged at him. Which in turn made her even angrier and increased the ferocity of her scolding.

Still, he couldn't help but be proud of the little girl who just last week couldn't handle the sight of blood or even talk back; now has the strength and confidence an adult to the point she could comfortably admonish him. Later, after the child finished ripping him a new one and finishing off the rest of the monsters, she insisted that we return to Erhard's to get him better armor.

_While I like the attitude change, I wish she would act her age now and again, and to drop her 'I'm adult now' argument._ Naofumi thought with a sigh when a finger poked him sharply in the cheek. He glanced over to see Raphtalia pouting up at him.

"Naofumi-sama, were you even listening to what we were saying?" She scolded with her hands on her hips.

"No." He deadpanned with a bored look.

She sighed, like she was a harassed mother with an unruly son, before promptly turning back to Erhard who was trying and failing to stifle his chuckles. "As I was saying. I need armor for Naofumi-sama. Those recommendations once again?" She asked politely.

"Hey, we're here to outfit you first." He quickly protested. "You're the front line, making sure you are in optimal condition is the most important. I can stand taking few good hits. It's all I'm good for really." He finished, rubbing his head.

"Absolutely not!" She snapped, once again jabbing her finger in his face. "While I appreciate the thought, you really need to start thinking of yourself! Did you forget what happened earlier in the plains?"

Naofumi avoided her gaze, frowning at the still tender wound, both physical and mental. "We really need to get you a new weapon though…"

She cut him off again, this time taking one of Erhard's swords from its sheath and making sure his face was reflected by the finely polished steel. "You really need to stop messing around, or else you'll die." **A flash of blood red eyes and bloodstained fangs**._ Too late for that…_

"Fine." He sighed, banishing the thought. Raphtalia grinned and started haggling a price for the sword she just 'tested.' Their voices faded away as Naofumi stared down at the scarred counter, thinking.

_If there are no marks, then can something still be considered damaged?_ He pondered quietly. When he was checking out the new scar earlier today, he couldn't help but to search his body for other wounds. Besides the few minor scratches and micro-scar's he'd received during his first couple of days in Melromarc; he couldn't find anything amiss with his body. No gaping wounds, no giant scar tissue, not even a bruise anywhere that couldn't be explained. Yet it didn't change the fact that he could still feel the strain and pain from what he'd experienced. He could still feel the spot where his head connected with stone or phantom fangs digging into the vulnerable flesh of his stomach.

There was no physical evidence that any of that happened. But he knew that it happened. Right after they disassembled the demon dog for materials and sold of the ore they had collected. Naofumi had started thinking hard about the situation.

First was the Porcubear monster: now, he wasn't sure if the monster he saw in the vision and the monster Erhard mentioned were one of the same. However, in the vision he and Raphtalia were in the forest when he encountered a lv.50 monster and they were promptly wiped out. Try as he might he couldn't even remember hearing even a whisper about a Wave monster nearby. What were the chances that he'd dream about a monster in the exact same place he hadn't even heard of yet?

Second, was the shields. While it looked like his stats were reset, it seems like certain things (i.e. shields) were autosaved or permanently saved over. How else could he have a set of Shields that he'd received from a monster previously never encountered? After further checking, it seemed that any shield he'd been using during the visions still say that he used them during an unexplained period of time that coincided with what he remembered using and for how long. This included retaining any upgrades he made to it by feeding them similar materials.

Finally, were the events he saw after his nightmare, it wasn't that everything looks the same, but it _WAS_ the same. Any significant event was just being replayed in front of him by real, live people. Almost as if he was rewatching a cutscene after restarting a save following a Game Over.

Now, Naofumi was deeply uncomfortable thinking about his situation as a game, he knew that was definitely **NOT** the case. But it was the best comparison he could come up with. How else could he reappear in the same spot completely unharmed right after his HP dropped to zero? How else could he explain seemingly reliving events and achieving new Shields that he shouldn't have?

_Well, either that or time travel. _Naofumi allowed. _However, none of my Shields seem to even hint at an ability remotely similar to that type of skill. Besides, I doubt that kind of weapon is possible; it sounds way too overpowered and an easily abused skill. I think whoever uses it would be more likely to make things worse than make it better. _He mused privately.

Still that leaves only one explanation: he is restarting from what seemed like save points.

He doesn't like it, but that's the only 'logical' explanation, that is what counts as logic in a fantasy world. What he doesn't know is if this was a unique trait to all the Heroes or are there special circumstances associated with it?

"Hey? Hey kid! You listening?" A large, glove covered hand waved in front of his face.

He jerked out of his thoughts to see Erhard and Raphtalia staring at him worryingly. "Jeez, kid, I've been trying to get your attention for the last few minutes. A copper for your thoughts?" Erhard asked, raising an eyebrow worriedly.

"It's nothing. What did you need?" He asked.

"Well I was just telling the Missus that I could make you a customized set of armor. Seeing as none of these grabbed your attention." He said waving a hand towards the suits of heavy armor that definitely didn't suit him. "Provided of course, you have the materials and cash." He said with an easy smile.

After working out a price Naofumi thought of something. "Hey old man…do you know anything about magic?" He asked nonchalantly, feigning disinterest.

Erhard rubbed his chin in thought and said, "Some, not much. Just what I heard during my adventuring days or when I'm smithing anything magical. If you really want to learn about magic, just go see the witch that runs the magic shop near the northern wall."

Naofumi hummed, filing that piece of information away for later, but pressed on. "Do you know about or heard anything about resurrection magic?"

"Resurrection magic?" Erhard repeated with a frown as Raphtalia cocked her head to the side. "Can't say I have but, I understand where you're coming from. It doesn't hurt to check to see if there is any insurance before the Wave hits but…" He looked at Naofumi in the eyes. "The Heroes of old had also asked about it and, from what I've heard, it's impossible. Many, many people have tried, all have failed to truly bring someone back from the dead; both necromancer and priest alike. You can't bring the dead back to life. Once you're dead, you're dead. No second chances." Then he shrugged, "At least, that's what I heard. Me, I wasn't that interested in magic outside of swords then, still holds true to today. Maybe those with a higher standing might know something about it."

Naofumi looked to the side, ignoring Raphtalia's sad expression. "Right. Just wanted to know…"

* * *

The next day, they went by and picked up the Shield Hero's armor. While he wasn't a fan of the name, he couldn't deny it was a good fit and it didn't look too bad. It was annoying however, that he had to be told that he could actually find out when the Wave hit. _Once again, thank you your Royal Asshole. _Naofumi snarled mentally as he cursed the king for what would've been the thousandth. _Yet another thing you've decided to screw me over with. Dammit, if I knew that I could've planned it better. You'd think with the way he's treated me; he wants his own damn country destroyed._

They made their way to the church with little fanfare and was led to the Dragon Hourglass by a sour faced nun. The hourglass was an admittedly impressive relic, it was easily the size of a two-story house and decorated gold trimmings and what looked to be rotating eye studs. He watched as the red sand in the top half rapidly drained, meaning that the Wave was fast approaching, less than 24 hours in fact. He was debating about asking a nun or priest about resurrection magic before leaving when a voice rang out behind him.

"Is that Naofumi?" He felt like he swallowed something rancid and his face twisted into a grimace at the sound of that familiar, obnoxious voice as he slowly turned to see Motoyasu and his personal harem behind him. Including that backstabbing bitch, Myne. "Dude, what are you doing wearing such flimsy equipment?" The blonde asked condescendingly, with a smug, knowing smile.

"Who's that?" Raphtalia asked as he gritted his teeth angrily as he attempted shoved his anger down. He responded to neither of them as he silently walked past his fellow hero, causing the girls with him to drawback from revulsion as he draws near.

"Hey!" A voice he despised yelled. "Motoyasu-sama is talking to you!" He ignored her, just wanting to get away from these two before he did something that would truly turn him into a criminal. He was just about to the exit when the last two of the quartet arrived. The two younger boys could just stare at the elder with unreadable expressions, but Naofumi could detect a hind of disgust in their eyes.

"Well hello there, what's your name cutie?" He heard Motoyasu's voice rise in what he thinks was supposed to be alluring voice; honesty, it sounded pompous. He turned to see Motoyasu clasping Raphtalia's hands and flirting with her. _Freaking lolicon_. He hissed mentally as he felt his stomach being rolling with anger and something else, something he couldn't quite put a name to.

Raphtalia, for her part, looked deeply uncomfortable and was trying to discreetly inch away from the blonde and towards her master, while Myne had an expression like she swallowed a rotten lemon. "Motoyasu-sama, why are you complimenting a lowly Demi-human?"

Motoyasu ignored the red-haired snake and was solely focused on trying to charm Naofumi's only companion away. "A girl as adorable as you shouldn't be wielding a sword, what has that monster been forcing you to do? Don't worry, I'll protect you." He swore leaning in closer as Naofumi was dosed from head to toe with both anger and a little bit of fear at the thought of Motoyasu being successful in his venture, as unlikely as it was. He stomped over to intervene when Raphtalia's eyes caught his.

She slipped her hands away from the man and politely but firmly said, "I'm sorry, I've sworn to fight as Naofumi-sama's sword." She apologized, stepping closer towards the black-haired man and away from the flirty blonde.

Motoyasu face went from charming to constipated, which was a better look for him in Naofumi's opinion, and tried to talk some sense into the child. "You can't! If you stay with him, you'll be in danger! He can't protect you!"

Naofumi froze mid-step as the last sentenced echoed though his skull, the two different versions of Raphtalia's corpse flashing before his eyes as his blood ran cold. _Can't protect, dangerous, Useless. He's right…I can't protect anyone. _He thought helplessly as anxiety attempted to strangle him where he stood, _I've already got her killed twice, who's to say it wouldn't happen again and again? _He is already risking her life just by forcing her to fight, but coupled with the hard fact that he'd fail her, twice?

While the demon dog had given them a major boost in both levels and abilities, who's to say that they could handle those types of situations farther down the line. Yes, he had an element of precognition to save their hinds, but it wouldn't due to solely rely on that factor. Maybe they'll encounter an unavoidable enemy that will kill them no matter what, even if Naofumi could continually restart? Should he continue this farce of risking Raphtalia's life under the guise of getting stronger?

He also didn't know whether or not this 'ability' to restart would last or if it had a limited amount of uses, like lives in a videogame. Is there a chance he would fuck up one too many times and Raphtalia would be gone forever? Died because he was useless? Died because she put all of her trust in the wrong hero?

_Maybe…maybe she should go with Motoyasu or even the other two? She'll be safer with them._ He thought, consumed by doubt as he stopped before the Spear Hero from the weight of his uncertainty. Motoyasu, not able to read the expression on Naofumi's face, gave him a smug sneer, "What? You know I'm right." He said cruelly.

Naofumi held back a snarl and began to leave causing Raphtalia to scurry after him, concerned by the dark expression she saw. Normally when she saw dark expressions on his face, it was born of anger, but this? She knew that emotion well, before Naofumi-sama had saved her, that expression was born of pure despair.

When he was almost to the doorway he paused, making Raphtalia bum into his back. "By the way, have you guys noticed anything off or weird while out in the fields?" He asked out of the blue, not turning around to face them.

Ren and Itsuki exchanged surprised glances with one another while Motoyasu frowned at the sudden subject change. "What do you mean?" Ren asked the elder after a minute.

"Anything that keeps repeating, like someone hitting the rewind button or soft resetting a game?" Naofumi clarified, still not looking at them.

"No. Why?" Itsuki asked with a frown, as everyone in the room exchanged confused looks, wondering what the criminal was getting at.

_I see…they didn't notice anything. _Naofumi thought. What that means, he didn't know. "No reason." He said, then left the church.

* * *

That night he couldn't sleep, the new timer on his screen was mocking him every time he closed his eyes. Taunting him like another counter he definitely was not thinking about.

Not one to be idle, he was spending that time making medicines and ignoring Raphtalia's eyes boring into back. His hands falling into the familiar routine of crafting medicines in the candle light as he let his mind wander to its heart's content.

_None of them noticed anything._ He mused as he placed the stopper onto the finished bottle and reached for another bundle of herbs to repeat the process. _Or if they did, they're not telling me. Granted, they might really not have noticed or even cared if they did_. However, he did catch them off guard enough that their confused expressions reflected from a nearby glass seemed genuine and they didn't seem to be lying.

He grinded the herbs into a paste and added liquid to the pulp. _The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that I'm actually restarting at certain points of time when I die. But if that were true, then why didn't Itsuki and others experienced any of the repeating events?_ Shouldn't they have noticed the sense of déjà vu when they walked through a town and relived the same conversations and events? He knew that they were thickheaded, but shouldn't they have noticed anything off during their travels? The only reason he could think of is that only those directly involved or died experienced the looping sensation. But if that were true, then why didn't Raphtalia remember, unless you needed to be a hero as well to actually experience it?

He let out an explosive sigh and rubbed his face, his mind finding no answers. _Argh, no matter how I think about it, nothing makes any sense!_ He knew that what happened, happened, but the more he looked; the more evidence to the contrary he found.

According to Erhard, resurrection is impossible; be it through rituals or from a skill. For both the residents of this world and the previous Heroes. It stands to reason that his 'ability' is not a byproduct of being a Hero and he may have stumbled over an unheard-of ability through sheer luck. Considering that he heard not even a lone whisper of the other Heroes being able to reset for as long as he had been here. Unless the Heroes kept it as a secret close to their chest out of pride or whatever; maybe to keep their reputations of being undefeatable hero's intact or something. If it got out that they were just save-scumming, then maybe they would've lost brownie points.

Even scouring his Help Menu was no help, at no point does the menu mention 'save points' or retries or extra lives. He was starting to think that maybe he was going crazy from the stress of this shitty world. If only he could get a decent explanation or even a hint of what was going on, he'll have some piece of mind. Is that too much to ask?

Finally, Raphtalia seemed to give up her silent vigil and sat up from the bed and asked, "Is everything alright, Naofumi-sama?"

His fingers cracked open slightly so he could give her a quick side glance, "Yeah, go back to sleep. We're going to have one hell of a day tomorrow." He told her, returning to his potion crafting. Raphtalia however, did not go back to sleep, instead she leaned in to ask a question after some hesitation. "Did something happen between you and other three heroes? They seemed to have disturbed you a great deal…" She trailed off, remembering the look of despair she had saw earlier. She from personal experience knew whatever had caused that look wasn't anything good.

His hands paused for a moment, then resumed not answering her. She continued, undaunted, "Or does it have to do with the 'soft-reset' thing you mention? What does that mean?" He didn't reply. "Does it have anything to do with resurrection magic?"

"No." His hands were still moving.

"Then why did you ask about it?"

"Just drop it!" He snapped causing her to flinch slightly and he felt like shit at the sight. "…Sorry. Seeing those guys right before the Wave has me uneasy. Like a bad omen." He apologized, not looking at her and concentrating on the half-finished potion.

"Naofumi-sama…If there's anything wrong…you're more than welcome to tell me about it. I can help you relieve your burden. If I can." She shyly said, after a moment.

"Do you want to join Motoyasu's party?" He finally asked, not taking his eyes off of his work area.

"What!? No!" She cried, genuinely caught off guard by the out of nowhere question.

"How about Ren's or Itsuki's?"

"No! I don't want to join any of their parties!" She yelled, with red faced indignation. "Where in the world did you even get that idea!?"

"Motoyasu is right." He simply said. "As much as it pains me to admit it, but he's right. I can't protect you. If you stick with me, then you'll most certainly end up dead. I'll understand if you'd want to join up with them, that way you'll be safer." He finished, still not looking at her. There was a moment of silence, when he felt a slap to his head.

"Idiot!" She snapped, rubbing her hand, despite her level and strength, his inhuman defense made his dense head even harder, rendering her damage mote. Even if it was a gentle hit, it still caused a minor sting to her hand. "We made a promise! I attack, you defend. Together we would combat anything that gets in our way. You promised not to abandon me!" She sucked in harsh breath. "Are you trying to get rid of me, did I displease you somehow?"

Naofumi let out a sigh and finally faced her. Raphtalia's face was a mixture of anger, dismay, and little fear. "No, you didn't displease me. Look I promised that I would let nothing happen to you, to either of us." _Which I already broke. Both promises._ "But…we got lucky. Back at the mineshaft. Something can and will come down the road where neither of us can get out of it unscathed or even whole." **A flash of bloodstained fur and a mangled corpse**, but he shook his head turning away from his companion. "Honestly, I don't want anything to happen to you because of my own uselessness." He said truthfully. "If you go with either of the Heroes parties, you'd be safer with them. Hell, I could leave you with the Old man, I just…don't want anything to happen to you because of me."

There was a moment of silence as Raphtalia's face went through a series of changes: anger, disbelief, sadness. Soon she settled on exasperation. "Naofumi-sama." She began patiently. "I want to be with you. I want to be your sword." She reached out to take one of his hands, causing him to look at her.

"Naofumi-sama, you have given me my life back when you first bought me from the Slaver. I was a sick girl who would've probably died by the end of the week if you hadn't saved me. You gave me warm food, good medicine, and a reason to fight. I don't want what happened to my village to happen again. I'm not following you because I want protection or to travel with a hero. I'm following you, Naofumi-sama. I'll follow you wherever you go and I will do whatever I can to help you. And to make sure the tragedy that my village suffered wouldn't happen again. That is my reason to fight. To help you and to make sure the Waves will end." She placed a hand over her heart and smiled. "I promise to remain by your side even after my dying breath. My life is in your hands, Naofumi-sama."

_That's what I'm afraid of._ He thought before nodding in understanding, realizing that she wouldn't change her mind. "Alright. We'll get through tomorrow, then the next, and whatever happens after that. Get some sleep, it'll happen sometime in the morning." He said turning back to his potion crafting.

"Shouldn't you get some rest as well?" She asked laying back down.

He glanced at the timer and said, "I doubt I could sleep, even if I wanted to."

* * *

The next morning, about nine hours later, the party of two found themselves in the town square surrounded by adventures. Some looked raring to go, others looked like they were going to puke, and others looked on with grim faced determination. However, they all were waiting for the same thing:

The Wave of Catastrophe.

Looking around, Naofumi could sense a feeling of anxiety permeate throughout the square. _They're all scared._ Naofumi thought. No matter their outward appearance, all of them are afraid. He could see the same traces of fear in Raphtalia's expression, but to her credit the tanuki hid it quite well. He briefly toyed with the idea of asking her about it before discarding it. It would just dredge up some unwanted memories and at the moment, it would just hinder their teamwork.

When he looked around, he had to frown as he couldn't see the other heroes or their companions. _Where are they?_ He thought with a tinge of annoyance. One would think that they would be raring to go like impatient children, after all to them this is the first official 'boss fight' since they came to this world.

He let out a mental sigh as he pushed away the sick feeling of what he hoped was anxiety creeping up his throat. He hadn't slept a wink last night and as a result had made a surplus of potions weighing him down. He had also forced down a loaf of tasteless bread and soup at dawn at Raphtalia's insistence, but he was beginning to think, combined with a sleepless night, it was a bad idea.

_Calm down._ He told himself firmly. _If you go in expecting something to go wrong, it will most certainly go wrong._ But no matter what he told himself, he couldn't escape the feeling that the Wave will not go as smoothly as he'd like. While he didn't like it, the last two incidents have somewhat set the standard of Naofumi's expectations: Everything could and will go wrong. He already knew that fact, it was firmly etched into his mind. He could only hope that he could use his own wits to escape any situation they find themselves in and not rely on his (probably limited) resets.

He watched as dawn started to peer over the quiet city and the gathered souls, without realizing it, he gently took hold of Raphtalia's hand and gave it a light squeeze. The girl was startled for a brief moment, before gracing her master with a beautiful smile.

"We'll get through this." He said to her quietly, hoping he could convince himself of this fact by saying it aloud.

This lit a fire within the tanuki's eyes as she gave him a look of fierce determination. "Yeah!"

As the sun rose, the timer lingering in front of his face had reached its final seconds.

**00:00:00:02 **

**00:00:00:01**

**00:00:00:00**

As though to announce to the world that it was time, the church's bells started to ring. Its heavy gong reverbed though the chests of all those who were near. The sound hadn't even faded when the sky turned blood red and the ground beneath their feet was engulfed in a golden light. Naofumi could only breath a silent "What?" before he felt his body become lighter than air and vanished from the square in a flash of light.

* * *

_Outside of Lute Village_

In the time it took for him to blink, they went from the cold, grey cobblestones of Castletown, to a dirt path surrounded by grass and trees. As the light faded, Naofumi quickly glanced up at the sky and felt his eyes widen. It turns out it wasn't his eyes playing tricks on him when he saw that the sky turned red.

Before his eyes, multicolored whirls streaked across the sky and black shapes began emerging from the psychedelic void. From a distance, it looked like black snow or ash was raining down onto the land. He could vaguely hear dull thuds as multiple bodies dropped to the ground and the sound of an angry swarm of bees reverberating throughout the area. The Wave has begun.

"Where are we?" He breathed, turning his eyes to the familiar looking scenery. _Wait this is…_

The sound of pounding feet drew their attention to a few feet from below the cliff they had found themselves on. He could briefly see a flash of red, blue and yellow swiftly running down the forest path, straight towards where he heard the loudest thud.

_There they are_. He thought. _Got to appreciate their singlemindedness to get to the biggest monster for the best kill. Whatever, the faster we kill the 'boss' the quicker the Wave ends._ "Come on, Raphtalia, we're following them." He said taking a few steps towards the edge, the tanuki however, was pointing in the opposite direction.

"Naofumi-sama! We're near Lute Village!"

_That's right!_ He realized, looking closer at the path they were on and picking out some landmarks. _That's why this place looks familiar, we're near where that porcupine got me. Shit, it could get ugly if there are still people in the village._

"Have the villagers evacuated?" He asked out loud, hoping his luck wasn't that bad. Alas, as though to answer him, a lone signal flare shot up from the village as he could faintly hear screams in the distance.

_Dammit, they're too far from the castle, by the time the knights reach the place, everyone will be dead. And the three idiots are still in the mindset that this is a game and they just need to kill the boss. They're not thinking about potential casualties. _

The Shielder had a brief moment of doubt. Should he go aid the other heroes or should he go help the villagers? On one hand the other heroes wouldn't need, nor want his help, but while the villagers may need help, would they even accept it from him and not the 'honorable heroes'?

He hesitated for a moment more before coming to a decision.

"Come on, Raphtalia!" He said, taking a step away from the cliff. "We need to help the villagers!"

"Right!"

_Lute Village_

It's a wonder at how a town could change in just a few short days.

Lute Village was a bustling, sleepy village; the residents going about their days, living one day to the next on a set schedule. The people would wake at the crack of dawn to tend to their duties until dusk. From working the fields of crops, to tending to farm animals, to setting up a small market near the inn to trade their wares. And when the sun set, pack everything up and wait to do everything over again; just as they and their relatives done since the day the village was settled. Rinse and Repeat. It was exactly like that when Naofumi and Raphtalia stayed over for few days after their encounter with the demon dog.

Now however, it was completely different. The town was in ruins. Many of the merchant stalls were lying shattered on the ground as though a stampede of bulls had swept through the town and some houses were also in shambles. The windows were shattered and most doors were lying in the doorway while others were barely clinging to their hinges. Some houses were on fire with black trails of smoke lazily rising from the burnt wood. Naofumi figures that some villagers were cooking breakfast, but they had left in a hurry, causing the flames to have free reign and spread out to the next home, seeking more fuel for their dance. He tried not to pay attention to the red smears that covered every available surface that were not present a few days ago.

Instead of people happily going about their day, there were corpses lying on the ground with various injuries covering their bodies. Some were covered in large boils like they were stung by a swarm of bees, some were still sluggishly bleeding from the various stab wounds; others looked like they were crushed to death by a blunt weapon. All were unmoving from where they had fallen, looking almost like puppets with their strings cut. It looked like a scene out of a nightmare.

It was this sight that greeted them when they rushed through the shattered and charred gates of the town entrance.

"God." Naofumi breathed, covering his mouth and nose to prevent the stench of death and smoke from invading his senses. Raphtalia wasn't much better as she had gone noticeably white at what was once a man, now resembled a lump of shredded meat; what's left of his face was a mask of terror.

"Damn it, the monsters worked fast." Naofumi muttered behind his hand as he surveyed the area and took in the devastation. _Shit, it's been at least 15 minutes since the Wave dropped down!_ Naofumi thought grimly. _And already almost all the villagers are dead or dying. It doesn't matter if those guys kill the boss, the people they were supposed to protect are dead. You would think that they would pay attention to victory conditions, one would think failing to protect civilians would be penalized_. He thought pessimistically as he caught sight of what could've only been a child's hand peeking out from under what was once a stone wall. He tore his eyes away from the sight to look into Raphtalia's darkened eyes as he heard some more distant screams. Audibly less screams from when they entered the village, which did nothing for his confidence.

"Raphtalia, there are some people who are still alive! Go through the village and pick up any survivors you can find and bring them to the mine!" He ordered.

"What about you?" She asked, dragging her eyes away from the carnage.

"I'll draw the monster's attention, focus on saving as many as you can!" He didn't give her a chance to respond as he ran towards the center of the village. Without any people to kill, the hordes of zombies and wasps were lingering in the center; on the outer edge, a few wandered towards the sounds of terror in search of prey. As he rushed towards them, he trigged one of his skills to draw the zombies that were meandering about towards him.

The skill **[Hate Reaction] **worked like a charm, forcing the monsters to turn their attention to the hero. Naofumi could feel their glowing dead eyes bore into his back as he danced around the maimed corpses and make shift weapons littered over the area. He didn't turn to look, but he could hear the undead start shuffling towards him as he zoomed through alleys; constantly activating his skill and paying no mind to his dwindling SP. The Shield Hero wanted the monsters focused on him and to allow Raphtalia time and space to move throughout the town looking for any survivors and not waste her time on random encounters.

Soon he had a huge mob of zombies and wasps shuffling or flying after him, eager to kill a living person. As he ran, he noticed that most of the monsters were attracted to flames, he lost count of how many times he found a group lingering near an impromptu bonfire; so much so that they ignored him in favor of the flames. With a curse, he had to double back to draw them towards him with a makeshift torch.

_Why?_ He thought, as he ran; leading the hoard in circles as they attempted to kill him, trying to buy as much time for Raphtalia as possible. _Why am I doing this? There's no reason to do this…everyone is pretty much dead. Everyone from the merchant who told us about the mine to the farmers to the village lord to even a mother and her child._ Visions of them being alive back when they stayed in Lute as opposed to their remains crossed his mind. _Why am even I risking my life right now? _

A loud crack behind him had him stopping briefly as he turned towards the sound. Behind him, a wooden watchtower had been alit by his passing torch and was now completely engulfed in flames. This surprised him, as the tower had looked brand new and not dried out when he was here just a few days ago. The scattered glass near the tower gave him the answer, the oil lanterns must've fell and shattered, causing the oil inside to soak into the wood, making it prime kindling.

The monsters, attracted to the dancing flame and the crackling of the fire, abandoned their chase to gather around the pyre. Another loud crack echoed throughout the deserted square as the tower's legs could no longer support its own weight and collapsed, spraying fire and huge chunks of lumber towards the undead and crushing the demon insects.

"Well…that was convenient." He muttered as he rested against a house to catch his breath. "Thank god they were stupid enough to gather around the fire." He could understand the wasps, as insects are more attracted to light, but he didn't understand why the zombies gathered around.

_In most videogames, undead was weak against fire, why would they gather around it? Maybe they're attracted to heat or noise?_ He wondered_. I remember hearing the crackling of fire when I passed by the groups that weren't moving and seeing the zombies go towards the screams that he heard. _

"Whatever." He sighed, "Hopefully I gave Raphtalia enough time to save any survivors. Now that I think about it, I don't hear anymore screams. Let's hope it's a good sign rather than the alternative…Damn it, what's taking those three so long!? Won't they hurry up a kill the boss already!?" Naofumi fumed when saw something out of the corner of his eye, he instinctively raised his shield.

CLANG!

Just in time for his shield met a heavy, metal axe.

Towering over him was a gigantic zombie, it must've been as tall as two men on top of each other's shoulders and covered in heavy, spiked armor. It looked as strong as it was bulky, as it hefted the axe that was easily as tall as Naofumi with one hand. While his inhuman defense tanked most of the damage, he could feel a deep vibration reverb up his arm and across his body; making his clenched teeth vibrate in his mouth. Still the strength it possessed was massive, the sheer force of the hit sent the black-haired man straight into a nearby tree.

While he didn't take any damage, it still knocked the wind out of him. A large shadow covered him and he glanced up to see its burning red eyes as it loomed over him. He could've sworn that he saw its mouth curl up into a smirk as it raised it axe for a killing blow. Naofumi met the axe with his shield once more, causing him to grit his teeth as the undead drove his back deeper into the bark.

"Naofumi-sama!"

Right before his eyes, the massive zombie's arm was sliced clean off. The undead had a half a second to stare stupidly at its stump before two slashes easily cut through its armor and it fell apart. Standing behind the carcass, was Raphtalia and a few of the surviving villagers.

"Raphtalia!" He shouted, surprised to see her and the others. "I thought I told you to evacuate any survivors!" Looking at the gathered young men, they've certainly seen better days. Most of them were injured with makeshift bandages and held onto their weapons with trembling hands. Whether they were trembling from pain or fear remains to be seen, they clearly have no business being back into the fire after nearly escaping this living hell.

One man spoke up. "T-this is our village, our homes. We saw you fighting to make sure we could escape but…we couldn't let you fight alone. We want to fight to. We want to defend what's left of our home and avenge our friends and family!" He spoke, despite his impassion speech, he was pale white and trembling with a sheen of sweat covering his face. He was very clearly afraid and in shock, all of them were; but all had a look in their eyes saying they wanted to avenge their friends and relatives.

_We'll, I can't argue with that._ Naofumi thought with a grim smile. _I'm kinda out of SP anyway, maybe with a few extra hands, we can get out of this mess with no more loss._ "Very well! Stick close to us. We need to hold out until the other three heroes defeat the boss!" He yelled and received an answering cheer as they hefted their weapons towards the undead that approached them from the forest line.

_We just need to hold on until the Wave ends._ He thought readying his shield. _We're almost there, we just have to hang on until the other three do their jobs_. Despite their motley crew of villagers, a single tanuki girl and a hero that can't attack; Naofumi felt that they could get through this.

How wrong he was.

As if summoned by his hope and determined to take it down, a loud whistle ripped through the air. Everyone, both living and dead drew their eyes towards the sky, wondering what it was.

Overhead, streak of light flew over the village, then another, and another. Multiple fireballs erupted all from around the surrounding forest and then uniting into one huge fireball over the village. It was suspended in the air long enough for the surviving entities to gaze upon it in awe before it burst apart and rained down onto the town below. Including the surviving humans.

"SHIT!" Naofumi yelled as he grabbed Raphtalia and attempted to use his shield to block the fiery rain.

A message popped into his field of vision.

**Insufficient SP.**

"Fuck-!"

The world turned bright and hot.

* * *

Earlier he compared Lute Village to hell. It fit, after all hell was supposedly composed of fire and death, it seemed like an apt comparison at the time.

He was wrong.

Now it was Hell.

Any structure that was still standing quickly became blackened and turned to ash from the intense heat. Naofumi could faintly hear shrieks of agony and despair as the men he'd just met were cooked alive before they faded out suddenly, filling him with both anger and grim resignation more than the previous screams.

He himself wasn't doing much better, despite his defense, he had absolutely no heat defense. He could only watch as his and those around him flesh turned red then to black as they were roasted alive. He could only stare as the villagers, who moments before oh so bravely declared that they would avenge their homes, were burned alive; leaving as shriveled up, blacken corpses.

Naofumi, for his, part felt like the time when he spilt boiling hot water on himself trying to make his mother a cup of tea as a toddler, but cranked up to a thousand and all over his body. He remembers crying his eyes out as his skin blistered and turned an angry red back then. Now, when he older and in a new, crueler world; he could only watch with odd detachment as his vulnerable flesh was seared black and peeled back so the flames could lick at his exposed bones.

He watched as the armor Erhard had handcrafted for him was either burnt to a crisp or melted, directly fusing into his skin. It left it him struggling to breathe through the pain as his chest was literally branded by the enflamed metal. He couldn't look down; both because his neck was to burned to move and he was afraid to see what had happened to Raphtalia. He couldn't feel her chest moving against his or even hear anything from her, not even a whimper of pain. If he, the one with broken defense, was in such a state, he couldn't bear to see what befell the child.

_I failed…I failed again…_He lamented with anguished despair. _I lead not just her, but others to their deaths…_It was only for a few seconds, but in that brief instance, he felt like he was in charge of the safety of the villagers. It had to be record of how fast he failed someone.

Suddenly, a deep, hearty, full belly laugh echoed throughout the area. It was such an extreme mood shift and such a contrast to the horror of what had just happened; that Naofumi forced his burnet body to peer over to where the sound originated from.

There, walking around like they owned the place was a company of knights, with the Captain in the lead wearing self-satisfied smirk on his smarmy face. He honestly looked like an ass, between his shit eating grin and his butt shaped chin; he was looking at the devastation that **HE** caused with pride. As though he had just claimed a huge victory and not just burned innocent villagers to death.

Though to their credit, the Vice-Captain and the other knights were looking at the burnt homes and broiled remains in horror. One baby-faced knight looked particularly ready to either breakdown in tears or throw up, perhaps both at the horror of what they've done.

The captain was still laughing, his booming laugh bouncing across the impromptu funeral pyre, oblivious to the horror of his soldiers. "Excellent work men!" He crowed, patting one of the soldiers on the back, not noticing the flinch of revulsion he received. "We've killed the entire group!" _Yeah, you've killed almost everything. Both monster and human, you piece of shit!_ He snarled through his fused lips, ignoring the dreaded message that always appears right before death.

**HP: 25/500**

**(STATUS EFFECT: BURNING-LOSE % OF HP EVERY MINUTE BURNS GO UNTREATED) **

**[WARNING SERVER BURNS]**

He must've made a noise, because the baby-faced knight suddenly turned towards him; probably not much of an achievement with the only other sounds being the crackles of fires and the heavy breathing of the knights. When he caught sight of Naofumi, his face twisted in both horror and hope. Horror at how he must've looked and hope that; maybe, he could survive after what they've-him and his captain have done, even if it's an ever so slight chance.

"Captain! There's a survivor!" He yelled with relief as he sidestepped over the still flaming debris to get to Naofumi's side. He jittery touched his shoulder, hoping to avoid jarring his still sizzling flesh and flinched when he must've caught sight of what was once Raphtalia.

Still the kid, _he must still be a kid, god, he doesn't look old enough to drink yet,_ tried to give the Shield Hero the best reassuring smile he could muster, albeit strained. "Sir, can you hear me? Don't move, I'm here to help." He tried to promise as he rummaged around his pack for potions. But judging by the look on his face and his warning messages, Naofumi knew that the prognosis is grim. That being said, the kid put on a brave face and was trying to comfort a dying man, so Naofumi could give him props to that.

"Hmph really? They must be strong if they managed to survive our fireball combo." The ass-faced Captain huffed as he looked the charred man up and down, but soon his eyes focused of the shield, covered in soot and residue, but still clearly intact. "Oh, it's the Shield Hero? My how fortunate that we managed to get him." He sneered, "Even that wasn't enough to put him down initially, must be thanks to his cursed shield. Ah well…it is what it is." He shrugged with a satisfied smirk.

"Leave him." He commanded with the finality of one being used to being obeyed, turning around and started to walk away. "Even if that didn't kill him outright, he looks like he's on death's door anyway. A few more minutes and we'll be rid of the nuisance". He waved a hand as though to shoo the young knight away. "Anyway, we must be going, after all the REAL Heroes might require our assistance." He said, urging his company forward to leave the wrecked village.

"Wh-what are you saying?!" The younger cried. "We can't just leave him here! Not when we can help him! He's a Hero too!" The young knight argued, still holding Naofumi's shoulder, as if to comfort and to tell him he wouldn't leave him, despite his orders. Which…Naofumi really appreciated. It was a small comfort, but compared to his two other deaths, it was a practically a gift. At least his last moments here wouldn't be staring a monster down in the face, just listening to a human one talk out his ass.

The Captain turned, his face turning puce and yelled, "A Hero!? Him!? He's nothing but a rapist! A criminal! A rabid dog that should be put down!" He pointed at the charred hero, his voice oozing contempt and outrage. "I should have you demoted, regulated to the stables! No! You should be stripped of your service and thrown in the dungeon with the rest of your kind! Just like that animal-lover Seaetto!" He yelled, spittle spraying from his mouth.

He could feel the knight trembling to his iron greaves, but the kid stood firm. He wouldn't leave him to die alone.

As he watched his HP slowly tick down, he saw something move behind the captain. Naofumi grinned, or at least tried to. As his dried lips crack and bleed, he rasped out, "I appreciate the thought kid, but he's right. I'm not going to last long…" The captain looked divided, on one hand the criminal agreed with him but on the other the _criminal _agreed with _him_.

"I'm going to die…and I accept that."

"Shield Hero, sir…" The knight, Ake stuttered; his eyes started to dampen. His heart breaking at the thought of causing one of the Four Heroes to die and the one he helped _kill_…was just accepting it. Not trying to get healed or begging for help. He didn't know if it was stubborn pride or just resigned to his fate. All that he knew is that he hated it, that he was right here and couldn't do anything to help. He'd became a knight to help the people and the Heroes, not to kill them or the Hero who tried to save them.

"Besides…at least I'll get to die watching your ass-faced Captain become food for the monsters." Naofumi continued, grinning widely. On his burned face with bleeding lips, it looked absolutely ghoulish on the Shield Hero's face. Everyone blinked at the sudden declaration when a large shadow fell over the Captain.

The Captain, his face rapidly paling, slowly turned around to see the gigantic zombie looming over him, it raising its axe overhead.

"AAAAIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!" The captain screamed, trying to run back towards his company, before tripping over his feet and landing hard on his stomach. He attempted to scramble away on his back, but the zombie lazily followed him, axe still raised. He turned desperately to his company and screamed, "HELP ME! SAVE ME!"

The knights shuffled a bit, not at all eager to launch themselves into the fray to save the man. Several turned to the scar-faced Vice-Captain. The Vice-Captain, just looked to the side, towards the corpses than to the captain and just, shrugged.

"Y-you-." The Captain stammered in horror, right before the axe struck him square in the head, easily splitting the helmet and skull within in two with the zombie's massive strength. The remaining knights only stared as the Captain went down like a sack of bricks, not all that bothered he's dead. The Vice-Captain, or rather the new Captain, easily slayed the zombie, which somewhat impressed Naofumi.

Ake the knight however, had gone even paler at the sight of the blood and trembled even harder. "Hey." Naofumi whispered, poking him to get his attention. The younger man bleary focus on Naofumi, still somewhat in shock, he might not have liked the man, but that didn't mean he wanted him to die. "You should probably get going. There's nothing left to be done about this place. It's just a graveyard now." He said with a raspy breath, as his vision started dimming, looking at the remains of what was one houses.

"Go find the other Heroes. End this Wave." He ordered the young man and then glanced at the scarred man. Unlike with Ass-face, the man nodded with some resignation and ordered the troops to rendezvous with the Three Heroes. The newly promoted Captain looked at Ake, who shook his head, his eyes pleading to stay with Naofumi until his final moments.

"Go. There's nothing you can do." Naofumi urged stoically, his eyes closing as the last of his HP was finally running out. He could see in his mind's eye the younger man biting his lip before reluctantly nodding. The younger gently patted the elder's shoulder and carefully stood up, trying not to cause further pain.

His heart was twisting at the sight of the burned Hero clasping the husk of his sole companion, waiting for himself to finally join them in the afterlife. Ake couldn't be sure whether or not the dying Hero was aware of the thin stream of tears leaking out of his eye or was he unaware? All Ake knew, was that this sight will haunt him for the rest of his days. Right before he left, he whispered, "I'm sorry."

Naofumi didn't respond as the troop reluctantly left the Shield Hero alone in the fiery wreck as his HP finally ran out.

**3**

**2**

**1**

**0**

The world was engulfed in light.

* * *

Raphtalia felt ill.

Granted, she was used to it until recently. But this time it was different. Before when she felt sick, her head would feel hot and achy, body cold; her head feeling like it would split open at any moment and that she would cough up her lungs. This however, there was a heavy pressure in her chest as though clamped in a vice. She felt a cold chill crawl down her spine and she felt the soup and bread she ate trying to escape through her throat.

She kept a hand on her hilt, before she thought of it as a necessary evil, something she had no choice but to wield. Now however, it was a comforting, solid weight, almost like a security blanket. She, like everyone else gathered in the square knew what to expect; hell, she experienced it firsthand. She will never forget how the sky turned the same color her parents bled on that day or the shrill cries of monsters baying for blood.

If she was being honest, she didn't even want to be here now, in fact she rather be back at the inn or in Erhard's shop hiding like the child she was a week ago. The only thing that kept her rooted in place was Naofumi right beside her.

Despite not knowing or because of not knowing what is to come; the Shield Hero was a bastion of calm in the uneasy crowd in the square. As opposed to the shuffling, stressed faces of those that surrounded him, Naofumi just watched the crowd expressionless, almost as though he wanted to go back to bed.

To an outside observer, he looks like he was bored out of his mind while waiting in a line for a bite to eat, not waiting for all literal hell to break loose. But Raphtalia had become something of an expert of reading his facial expressions. She could tell he was uneasy as well, especially when he did a quick inventory of his healing items and trying to calculate if he had enough to get by.

Upon seeing that, a small smile crossed her face. Despite his uncaring demeaner, she knew he worried for the safety for those around him. Must be the innate nature of the Shield Hero, despite what others thought of him.

Raphtalia will be first to admit her surprise at how a few weeks could do wonders. When she first saw him, back at the slaver's tent, she thought he'll be another Idol. With his cold eyes fixed on her and set in his aloof, hard face. Then after a time, she found out that he was rather kind, if a bit rough around the edges. He truly cared for her, from curing her illness to making sure she's properly armed to even gifting her a small ball she'd been eyeing. Raphtalia knows that he'll just say that he's protecting his investment, but she knows that underneath his cold shell, he was a kind person just dealt a bad hand.

She knew deep in her gut that the rumors she'd been hearing about were false. No way was the young man she traveled with was the crazed rapist that the rumors painted him as. Sure, he's crass and has a habit of spacing out, but she'd seen monsters. Both literal and those wearing human skin and Raphtalia knew Naofumi wasn't cut from the same cloth as those aforementioned monsters. No monster would worry so much for the safety of others.

Suddenly, Naofumi's head snapped up, his pupils blown wide, as if waking from a nightmare. Which was odd, as only seconds ago he was lazily eyeing the crowd, not in the least bit sleepy, despite not sleeping the night prior. Raphtalia was about to ask what was wrong when the bells started ring, drawing another jolt from the Shield Hero who had his eyes fixed to the sky. Almost as though he now realized what was to come.

He made eye contact with her and quickly grabbed her hand as to not be separated. From what, it was answered a moment later when the ground beneath them glowed with a harsh light.

One moment they were in Castletown, then suddenly they were not.

When the light cleared Raphtalia didn't have a chance to even glance around. Naofumi suddenly tighten his grip on her hand and started running full tilt in the opposite way they were facing, dragging her along.

"N-Naofumi-sama!?" Raphtalia cried out as she was literally dragged behind the suddenly frantic hero. She barely time to adjust her stance before the hero unintentionally dislocated her shoulder and matched his pace. "What's wrong!? Shouldn't we be heading towards the boss!?" She asked as she heard a deafening crash in the opposite direction amongst the smaller crashes, it was not doubt in her mind it was the boss monster. She couldn't fight off a shudder as the monster that killed her parents flashed through her mind.

"We need to get to the village first!" He shouted, speeding up when he saw that she was matching his pace.

"The village?" She asked before catching sight of the familiar town Lute that was in the distance. Looking around as she ran, she now recognized the familiar surrounds. But how did Naofumi, who didn't even look around before running, know they were in this place? She wondered.

"Have they evacuated?" She asked in concern.

"No! The Wave has only just begun, they didn't know they were going to be at the center of the Wave! We need to get over there and save as many as we can!" He shouted, keeping his eyes fixed on the village.

"How-." _Do you know?_ She was going to ask when her ears picked up the sound of a flare being sent off.

"We need to lead them to the mine shaft. We cleared out most of the monsters during our stay. I doubt the monsters have respawned properly, so it should be a good shelter for the villagers to wait it out in." He answered, thinking she asked about the plan.

They made it to the gates in record time. They barely made it past the gates when they heard a terrified scream. Her eyes settled on a man with a pitchfork on the ground up surrounded by a group of zombies. One brought down its chipped blade to skewer the man, when the legendary shield blocked it easily.

Naofumi had seemingly teleported in front of the zombie and easily repelled the strike. In perfect sync, Raphtalia quickly finished it off with a swipe of her sword. "Are you alright?' The tanuki asked the man in concern, however Naofumi had already dragged the man to his feet and thrust a potion into his hands.

"Go now!" He ordered; his eyes hard, but not cruel as he surveyed the zombies with disgust. "Go to the mines and hide." The man weakly nodded as the Shield Hero turned to his only companion. "Raphtalia, help the villagers evacuate, I'll draw their attention, make sure everyone makes it to the mines."

"But-." She tried to argue but the raven cut her off. "Just go! I'll be fine!" He then triggered his **[Hate Reaction]** skill and ran off with the zombies shambling towards him; leaving her alone with the man.

"T-that was the Shield Hero?" The man stammered, still shaken from his brush with death. "He doesn't act like how the rumors said about him…" The man whispered looking at the high-grade potion the Shield Hero had gave him. It was easily worth more than he would ever see in three months, yet the so-called criminal handed to him without so much batting an eyelash and then proceeded to draw the danger towards him. Before the Wave started, he thought the Shield Hero was a worthless troublemaker that would just hamper the other Heroes. But now looking at the wreck that was once his home and seeing no sign of the others and only one hero is doing his job; he knew who truly deserved that title.

"Sir, we need to go." Raphtalia broke the man from his musings as she finished off the hoard. The man blinked, momentarily nonplussed that he'd forgotten about the other zombies while he was thinking. The man nodded, still looking at his potion as a fire was lite in his eyes.

Raphtalia quickly carved a path for them through the village and on the way, the duo was quickly joined by the other survivors. They were a mixed lot consisting of men, women and few children. They were of varying ages, strength and wealth, from the poorest man to a wealthy merchant; some were armed with farming equipment to use as weapons, some were unarmed and looked like they never wielded anything sharp in their lives. The only thing they shared in common was that they looked to be unharmed aside some torn clothing and being somewhat shaken. Each and every one of them were clutching a potion bottle she recognized as her master's; signaling to all that Naofumi had managed to get to them in time and sent them her way. Many were still full, but others were half empty or just empty glass bottles.

Their ash covered faces had lit up when they saw that she was the companion that they saw with him nearly a week ago, despite her rapid aging. They grouped around her like children who finally found their mother after being lost, some even had tears of relief running down their cheeks as she led them to safety.

While they were leery of entering the mines due to the monsters of previous Waves hiding out in it, their faces cleared when the tanuki assured them that they had cleared it out of any dangerous fiends the previous week. So long as they remained near the entrance, they should be fine. The zombies couldn't navigate up the steep hill and can easily be repelled and the wasps were more drawn to the light of the fires then to hunt them down in a dark, enclosed space.

"This way everyone, hurry!" Her voice was like a beacon of hope to the townsfolk as she ushered them towards the mouth of the cave. "Remain calm." She said as some shuffled past her, their eyes fixed either on the ground or towards the smoking village. A sudden tug on her skirt drew her eyes downward. Staring up at her was a little girl clutching her mother's dress in one hand and in the other her skirt.

The girl looked up with her with shining eyes and a wide smile with a single gap in her teeth. "Thank you for saving me and my mommy from the monsters." She thanked the tanuki with a high-pitched voice.

Unable to hold back a smile, Raphtalia crouched over so she was level with the child. "You're welcome, I'm glad the both of you are safe." She said, glancing at her smiling mother.

"Uh-huh. Do you know when Mister Shield Hero will get here? I want to thank him to." The little girl continued and leaned over as if to whisper a secret to the raccoon demi-human. "Mister Shield Hero protected us from some scary wasps with a giant ball and gave mommy a potion when one of them stung her. He looks kind of scary, but he's actually nice!"

Raphtalia smiled, but shook her head. "I'm sorry but he's not joining us until the Wave ends, he's going to keep the monsters in town occupied as we wait for the other Heroes to end the Wave." She said, eying in the village with concern as she watched plumes of smoke start rising into the air.

"Okay! I'll thank him when the Wave is over!" The girl chirped as she and her mother went into the cave.

Once the girl was out of sight, the smile dropped from the tanuki's face. While she had said that with as much conviction as she could, she couldn't help but worry for her master. While she knew he had endurance in spades, she didn't know how long it would fare against an ever-mounting hoard of monsters. She had a feeling that he might hit his limit soon.

While Raphtalia knows she should stay here with the townsfolk as she was ordered, she desperately wanted to rejoin Naofumi. While not necessarily told in a way that would activate her Slave Crest, she knew he would be unhappy if she disobeyed him in order to aid him. But on the other hand, she was his sword and even he can't outlast a never-ending hoard without someone to thin said herd; she needed to stay by his side to be able to do that.

Her indecision was ended when a large explosion echoed throughout the area. All eyes were drawn back to the town as the watchtower was in flames and slowly collapsed. Coming to a decision she turned to the older man near her that she identified as the lord and asked, "Is that everybody?"

The lord was broken form his trance as he took in the gathered people and nodded. "It looks like everyone is here…" He trailed off, eyeing the exhausted faces of his townspeople.

"I'm going back to the village. Stay here and have the men defend the mine!" She ordered as she started running back to the village but was stopped by a group of men.

"Wait, take us with you."

"What? Why?" She asked in confusion.

"Lute village is our home. We can't just stand by and let it be destroyed without picking a fight." The leader said with a smile. "Besides, the Shield Hero saved my brother." He gestured to the man they'd save when they entered the village. "I want to pay him back, even if we're not as strong as either of you, I at least want to payback my debt even a tiny bit."

She wanted to refuse. It was too dangerous and they'd just be throwing their lives away, not to mention Naofumi-sama would be _extremely pissed_. He could forgive her for disobey his not-order, but no way would he approve of her dragging the people she was to protect straight back to the battlefield. But looking at their determined faces, she knew she couldn't say no; because they have the same expression of her when she came to her resolution that was the same as them. To help the Shield Hero.

"Alright. But stay close to me and don't take any unnecessary risks." She reluctantly agreed and she and the militia made their way back to the village_. Please hang on, Naofumi-sama._

* * *

Naofumi gritted his teeth in pain and rubbed his head. _Damn that hurt, but it was worth it._ He thought in satisfaction from a collapsed wall as the watchtower burned to the ground, taking a hoard of monsters with it. _Alright, that takes care of the initial hoard. If I'm timing it correctly, then the knight's combo attack should be happening soon. _

While he thought he was progressing though the village in good time, he knew he shouldn't let his guard down. He managed to save those he couldn't before by hotfooting it to the village as soon as they arrived. All the while making sure he handed out his potions like it was candy and watching his SP like a hawk. He rather not be cooked alive again, thank you very much.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder how long this'll last. He's almost out of potions despite producing them on mass last night and he has enough SP for maybe three or four more skills; not to mention his stamina was nearly depleted from running around like mad, headless chicken.

"Damn it, I wish they'd kill the boss sometime this week, that would be nice." He grumbled as he stood up to brush off the dust. "I don't know how long I can keep this up."

"Sir Hero!" His head snapped to the side as he turned to the voice and cursed violently in his head. _Why are they here!? Dammit they're too close to the fallout zone_! He bit back a snarl and faced the familiar militia of farmers heading towards him.

"Why did you come back!?" He yelled, fighting to remain calm, almost feeling an invisible clock appear behind him, steadily ticking down until doom. "I thought I told you to hide in the mine?! Go back! You're just putting yourselves in danger!"

The villagers were momentarily thrown by the harsh reaction, but stood firm in the face of his angered worry.

"We did but…when we saw you defending our village and rescuing us on top of making sure our wounds were treated, we realized. We can't let you fight alone. This is our home and we'll defend it with our lives!" The same spokesman from before said, instead of looking haggard and haunted, he looked more determined than anything this time around. Naofumi wondered what it was that could've provoked such a difference.

"I understand, but it's too dangerous." He said crossing his arms and scanning the sky, feeling the hairs on his back raise. "You're liabilities at this point. Just go find cover and stay out of the way." He said, hoping it'll get through their thick skulls.

"But-." The bandana man started when a shadow fell over him. Naofumi's eyes widened and he cursed viciously. _Oh, hell no,_ he thought rushing towards the bulky zombie. _I liked it when you killed the Ass Captain, but no way in Hell I'm letting you kill this one!_ The force of the blow knocked Naofumi off his feet and straight into Bandana, throwing them both into a tree.

They both let out twin grunts of pain, while it didn't do much to Naofumi, it knocked the wind out of the guy and he must've cracked a few ribs as well. When the monster tried to follow up, a pitchfork jammed itself into its arm. It didn't do much damage, but it was enough to divert its attention to the owner of said fork.

With an unholy wail, it tried to strike the trembling man, but Naofumi was already next to the man to block the strike.

"You can't handle this! Fallback!" He shouted.

"But…"

"Think about it, your village isn't the homes or the land it's built on. It's you and your family. To throw your lives away on something you have no hope of winning, is fucking stupid. If you truly wish to help, then get out of here!" He yelled when her heard a familiar voice shout.

"Naofumi-sama!"

"Raphtalia!" He yelled as the zombie went for another strike, he quickly redirected the attack to the side and closed in. With a grunt, he smashed his shield flat against the rotting face as Raphtalia went for the kill. With a single slash, the zombie collapsed.

"Well done." Naofumi complimented, shaking out his hand.

"Thank you." Raphtalia said with a smile. "I'm glad you're alright." She was about to say more when she caught the expression on his face. He looked angry and a little…afraid? Worried?

"That being said…WHAT IN THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!?" He yelled, causing her to flinch from the volume. "I told you to help with the evacuations, not lead them right back here! Damn it, you put both them and yourself in serious danger by coming back here! I can't protect all of you like this!"

Raphtalia waited for him to catch his breath then cut in. "I intended to come here alone, Naofumi-sama, but they insisted on accompanying me. And." She cut him off as he opened his mouth. "I know it was wrong of me, but I couldn't stop them. Not when they had the same goal as me. To help you protect the village and to repay you for your help."

Naofumi was quiet for a moment before sighing. _We're almost out of time, it'll be any second now._ "Fine, you can help by getting the injured out of here." He pointed at Bandana and the group he had saved when he lured the zombies to the tower. "No arguments." He said when he noticed them gearing up to fight. "You wanted to help? Get them as far away as you can. If you feel this isn't enough, then survive until the Wave is over. Then we'll talk about payment." He said, turning away and ending the conversation.

The men were unhappy, but they reluctantly took his advice and cleared out. Soon it was just Naofumi and Raphtalia alone in the square. While Raphtalia was regretful of letting the villagers come with her, she didn't regret reuniting with her master.

"Naofumi-sama-." She was suddenly cut off when the raven grabbed her. "Wha-!?" She was shocked and was about to ask what he was doing when she heard a high pitch whine, followed by another and another. She peered through his cape to see multiple fireballs light up the sky and explode into a torrent of flames, raining down onto them.

Luckily, Naofumi was using a skill that shielded them from the heat of the attack. However, the congregated zombies weren't as lucky. He could only watch satisfied as they were turned to ash under the unforgiving heat. Nonetheless, he kept his skill activated until he was sure there wasn't going to be a second round. He didn't remember if there were any other fireballs, but it's a little hard to remember over the sound of your own flesh cooking.

Finally, the fire zone cooled to a bearable temperature and a familiar laugh echoed throughout the area. Thankfully there were no corpses to greet them this time around; so instead of a troop of horrified soldiers, he saw a group of bored looking knights with Ass-chinned Captain in the lead.

"Well done men. We've killed the entire group." He praised, still laughing while his knights stoically marched on, unconcerned at the damage they caused. The captain surveyed the area until he spotted the two, still crouched over under Naofumi's skill. "Oh, the Shield Hero?" He said, with indifference. "You managed to survive that and are uninjured as well. You're tougher than I thought. A pity." He sighed disappointedly like he wanted wine but was told he could only have ale.

"Tsk. They don't care." Naofumi muttered taking in the indifferent faces and comparing it to the horrified faces he saw earlier. "It doesn't matter to them since it was 'only' monsters and property that was destroyed." _Of course, they don't care_, he scowled mentally, _they didn't kill innocent bystanders this time around. All there is to feel guilty about was destroying some property that could be some unfortunate soul's lively hood and harming a 'criminal.'_ _That being said, I can't say I blame them, if the choice was to burn some replaceable commodity along with monsters or let people die, the choice is easy. Still it's a shitty thing to do, especially if WE were here, what if the villagers were once again in range? _They didn't even bother to check to see if the village was evacuated or even try to look for survivors before they torched the place.

As opposed to Naofumi's indifferent resignation to the entire situation, Raphtalia on the other hand was furious. She felt her blood boiling at the thought of these knights having absolutely no concern for any innocents caught in the crossfire. It unfortunately took her back to when she was sold into slavery and the knights did nothing to help her. Hell, they _approved_ of it. She can still remember the faces contorted in vicious glee as they either slaughtered the remaining villagers or enslaved them.

With that memory driving her, she burst out from under Naofumi's cape, much to his and the knights surprise and rushed towards the Captain, her blade screaming for his blood.

_Clang!_

Unfortunately, the Vice-Captain managed to intercept her attack with his own. She scowled mentally, despite only wielding a blade for less than a month, Raphtalia could tell that this man was an experienced swordsman. The same couldn't be said for the Ass-faced Captain. Her would be target cowered from behind the senior knight as he calmly held her off. She couldn't help the spike of contempt fill her at the thought that such a worm was in charge of someone more deserving of the title.

"Did you order that attack knowing full well that Naofumi-sama was here!? Depending on your answer, I'll have your head!" She snarled around the wall that was the Vice-Captain towards the worm.

The Vice-Captain coolly met her furious eyes and said, "Draw your swords." As one, the knights had their weapons out in a flash. Raphtalia hopped nimbly away, observing that though the Captain was indeed the captain, it was apparent who truly led the troop.

The Captain stepped out from behind his subordinate, his confidence restored by both his troops and Vice-Captain's skills. He looked down his nose at both of them, his nose wrinkled as if smelling something foul. "Are you with the shield hero?" The Captain asked. His voice oozing with condescension.

"I am Naofumi-sama's sword! None may disrespect him in my presence!" She snarled at the embodiment of her nightmares. The Captain's face twisted in disgust at the gull of this bestial chit.

"You think you can point your blade at the royal knights you damned demi-human?" He sneers, puffing up indignantly.

"What kind of knight neglects the people he's meant to defend!?" She said with a sneer of her own, her mind flashing back to the so called 'knights' and 'adventurers' that pillaged her town right after the first Wave ended. She was about to cut the man down at the neck the other knights be damned, when Naofumi's voice cut through the red film that was descending over her vision.

"Forget it, Raphtalia." Naofumi ordered, looking away from the group.

"But…" Raphtalia protested, cut off guard.

"Just drop it!" He ordered, raising his voice, still not looking at her.

"That's right, you know your place, both you and that demi-human mongrel. I should put your savage beast down here and now like the rabid creature she is for interfering in the Royal Guards business." Raphtalia gritted her teeth, wishing she could embed her blade through his smug face. "But seeing as you know your proper place, I can be magnanimous and let her off with a warning." Seeing his victorious look amongst the indifferent knights boiled her blood. Before she did something that she would later regret, a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

Naofumi shook his head telling her not to waste her time with him. The tanuki reluctantly lowered her blade. Naofumi looked at the Ass-faced man with indifference, masking his discomfort at being face to face with the man who had killed the two of them and other innocents. He hated it as well, but honestly, he just wanted this Wave to be over and they needed these assholes. He was out of SP and he could see that Raphtalia's stamina was nearing its limit.

The man was still droning on, going on and on about how they should be grateful that he is generously letting them live and blah, blah, blah. "…So long as you behave yourselves, we won't be forced to make any mistakes concerning the monsters roaming about."

"That's fine by me." Naofumi said with a somewhat chipper voice, his eyes half closed, causing both Raphtalia and a few of the knights to glance at him in bemusement. The girl knowing from the tone of his voice that he was up to something. Something unpleasant for whomever is the target for his plans.

"Heh, that's what I'm-."

Naofumi cut him off, his face now wearing a blood thirsty grin that sent shivers down the knights' spines. "After all. I wouldn't want to miss you being devoured by monsters!"

The Captain was speechless for a moment before an achingly familiar shadow fell over him. Right behind him was the same bulky zombie as before, ready to make mincemeat out of the rat like man.

"D-don't falter! Get in formation." He stammered, his blood going cold as the red lights in the skull glared down at him. Naofumi couldn't help but note that he was more coherent compared to his past? Future? Self.

_Huh? I wonder why that is? Maybe because both Raphtalia and I are here? I suppose having a Hero next to you would do wonders for your confidence, even if said hero is 'a bestial, rapist scum._' He thought uncharitably as the Captain trembled in the shadow of the undead

However, much to both Naofumi's and Raphtalia's disappointment, Naofumi reluctantly parried the blow. As much as he wanted an encore performance by Skully and Ass-chin, he unfortunately needed him and the rest alive. "Want to die an honorable death in battle?" Naofumi asked the arrogant man as he collapsed from fear, his face locked in a grimace as he held back the rusted axe. The raven's nose wrinkled at the smell of ammonia mixing with the stench of blood, ash, and rotting meat. "Raphtalia!" He called his companion.

"Coming!" She answered, running towards him. With a graceful leap, she used the cowering man's head as a spring board, accidently stomping on his face a little harder than necessary. She cleared over her master's head and ran up the zombie's head to split the head and chest in half.

The zombie let out a death knell and collapsed, its rancid blood raining towards the knights closest to the creature.

"Listen here! We'll buy you time, use it to get in formation!" He ordered the troop as more zombies and wasps gathered to face the hero and his companion. Without waiting for an answer, he rushed towards them with the tanuki hot on his heels. "Let's go Raphtalia!"

"Right!" She answered, her sword already cleaving through the nearest zombie. With perfect synchronicity, the two fell into a rhythm born of back to back fighting for some time. The raccoon girl would rush in to cleave her enemies apart, swiftly followed by the Shielder, blocking any counters. Between the two of them, they thinned the hoard with every screech of a dying insect or zombie.

The Ass-faced Captain, regaining his composure, sniffed with distain at the deadly dance performed by both the hero team and the monsters. He and a few knights with him turned away from the spectacle. "Let the Shield handle this. We're heading towards where the Three Heroes are." He ordered his troops, much to the dismay of the younger knights watching the battle.

_Tch, arrogant bastard_. Naofumi cursed mentally as he parried a sword that was aimed for Raphtalia's back. _Whatever, if they want to see the three stooges than fine. The faster the Boss is dead, the better. I just hope we could survive this time around…_

However, the voice of the Vice-Captain rang throughout the area, causing Naofumi to momentarily pause to stare. "Support the Shield Hero! Phalanx formation!" The older knights, including the captain, jaws dropped while the younger knights cheered. The younger soldiers quickly followed instructions as they readied their blades. "Charge!"

With a war cry, the knights quickly entered the fray, pushing back the hoard; giving the two a chance to breath. With their bolstered ranks, the tide of battle finally tipped in Lute Village's favor. On the outskirts of the battle, the Captain and two of his cronies watched as they ignored him and his orders. Clicking his tongue in disgust, he and the older knights turned and left, "Forget them let's go."

* * *

Despite the reinforcements in the form of the knights, the Wave continued for another hour.

Naofumi wasn't paying attention to the time as he was busy dividing his time between defending both the knights and Raphtalia from attacks. He was sure he must've killed more zombies in last hour alone, then any virtual zombie he'd killed in videogames back home. He cursed that he had run out of SP because he knew he wouldn't be able to keep protecting both the squad and Raphtalia at the same time forever and he'd rather not have any of these stranger's deaths on his conscious. He could only wish that the other three and the senior knights finally kill the boss and end this battle.

Finally, however, it seems like his prayers were answered. Just as the knight's movement started to falter from exhaustion, the unchanging red sky started to shift.

"Naofumi-sama…look at the sky!" Raphtalia cried out joyfully. Naofumi tore his eyes away from the wasp that had been aiming for a knight to look towards the blood red sky. As suddenly as the sky had turned, the demonic whirl faded, leaving clear blue skies and fluffy clouds in its wake. Naofumi and the others had to blink to clear their vision at the sudden light change.

The Wave of Calamity has finally ended.

A cheer rose out from both the knights and from the villagers on the outskirts. A cheer born from relief that they managed to survive for another round. Still, that didn't do anything about the monsters still in town, but both the knights and a few able-bodied villagers regained their second wind and swiftly dove out the monsters.

Alas, while many were relieved that the Wave has ended. Next came the hard part: the cleanup.

All throughout the area, the villagers emerged from their shelters to take stock of the damage. Many of the homes were damaged in the initial wave of panic the monsters brought with them. What wasn't damaged, were still smoking skeletons thanks to the knight's fireball. Many of owner had been found kneeling in front of their resistance or shop in shock as they have lost their lively hood within a few hours.

Worse was the corpses. Even though Naofumi had booked it overtime to reach Lute, he wasn't able to prevent everyone's death. Some had been hiding in their homes and were either crushed when their houses collapse or burned alive as their homes were turned into makeshift pyres. Naofumi couldn't bear to help with the second situations, it hit a little too close to home for him. That being said, helping the men lift up sections of collapse wood and stone just find the red smears that proceed the discovery of a mangled body wasn't any better.

Looking at this he couldn't help to wonder if this was truly a victory. And if it was, then it certainly felt like a hollow one.

Raphtalia's quiet voice broke him out of his musings, "Naofumi-sama…I've killed all the monsters left in the village." She said, her eyes lingering on a pair of children who've lost their parents from the fires. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the knights beginning to withdraw. He couldn't help wonder if they were going to request aid for the village that they had partially helped destroy or not.

"I see." Was all he said, taking stock of the damage as he recalled what he had seen when he first arrived to now. He could only take comfort in the fact that he didn't see any familiar looking corpses among those who were laid out to be buried.

"Did we…win?" Raphtalia asked, sounding small; for the first time in a week sounding like the child she was. Naofumi couldn't find an answer and could only squeeze her hand to offer silent comfort.

The sudden noise of many feet had him turning, worried that either the knights or monsters have returned to fight him. Instead he was faced by the survivors of Lute Village with the Lord in center. They looked very different from themselves a week ago and the ones he'd seen during his first save. They didn't look like the carefree people before, but they were also alive. Tired and beat up, but alive.

"Sir Shield Hero, thank you very much." The lord started, acting as the spokesman for the group. "We are in your debt. We couldn't have made it without you.

Naofumi could feel his eyes widen in surprise and he'd just barely managed to keep his jaw from dropping open. He hadn't expected to be acknowledged being here, let alone given credit for saving them. He felt…empty when he heard the old man's words. Like he didn't deserve their thanks. He had failed them after all. It may not have stuck, but he had failed both them and the ones who'd died here as well. Unable to handle the weary gratitude, he turned away. "Thank your lucky stars, not me." He said gruffly, turning away.

The lord shook his head. "No, your presence here is what helped us survive. Thanks to both your potions and your swift arrival, you have saved many who would've died. Both from the monsters and the wounds they'd suffered. We'll never forget what you've done for us."

_But I didn't._ He wanted to protest. It wasn't enough, he couldn't save those who had died this time around. He kept his back away from them and just said, "Whatever." The villagers seemed to realized he didn't want their praise, so instead they bowed as one towards his back and slowly left to continue rebuilding.

"They looked truly grateful." Raphtalia commented with a soft smile as she watched a little girl, the one she'd had talked to at the mines, wave at the Hero's back from her mother's embrace, complete with her gap-toothed grin.

"I guess…"

The raccoon's smile started to slip as she watched the villagers leave, safe in the knowledge they at least had one hero who stayed to help them. Both from the Wave itself and to help rebuild. "We prevented at least a few kids from going through what I did, right?" She asked, her voice becoming quiet and started to crack a tiny bit.

"You did well."

"I…I killed a lot of monsters…" She said softly, looking at the still smoking village.

"Yeah." He said, gently patting her head. The dam finally broke as tears started to gather in her eyes. He said nothing as the tanuki started weeping, both for herself, her village, and Lute Village.

Naofumi said nothing, just letting her cry as he watched the sun reach his zenith.

_One Wave down, who knows how many more to go,_ he thought quietly. _There's no doubt about it, we need to get stronger, for both of sakes. I can't rely on my 'save points' every wave or even every battle. Who knows how long this ability might last, we need more firepower, we need to survive until the Waves finally recede._

Raphtalia clung to him as she cried into his chest, he just gently patted her head as he stared ahead, awaiting what comes next. _I can only pray I can see it myself with my sanity still intact…_


End file.
